Last week the Democrats won a Congressional seat in upstate New York, in Republican territory. They attributed that to the Medicare plan by Paul Ryan. The Republicans attributed that to a third party candidate from the Tea party which siphoned votes from the Republican candidate. I think both of these contributed to the upset. But regardless I think you will see Republican candidates in close contests try to stay away from Ryan's plan while the Democrats will use it to their advantage. The Ryan plan was terrible but I think to cut into the deficits, social security and medicare have to be discussed. But it is obvious that people want to cut deficit but nobody likes to lose their entitlements. Politicians touch these entitlements at their peril. The Republicans are screaming unfair, saying that Democrats lied about the Ryan plan. But don't forget they lied more when they said that Obama's plan would have got rid of medicare and that there were death panels in his plan. What goes around comes around!
Last week Obama was criticized by Romney for throwing Israel under the bus by suggesting negotiation with the Palestinians begin with the 1967 boundary. Come on, I don't see anybody under a bus at this time! Netanyanhu then lectured Obama about the 1967 line being indefensible. It seems to me that Israel defended very well in 67 and again in 73. Since then the gap between the military strength of Israel and its neighbors have widened tremendously. There is never an issue of Israel defending itself against an army attack from the Arabs. No Arab army is going to invade Israel and be successful, no matter where the border is. The problem for Israel is going to be terrorist attacks and those can occur no matter where the border is. Netanyahu was playing to his audience back home by lecturing Obama which to me is arrogant given the U.S. is Israel's biggest supporter. I am also pessimistic that Israel and the Palestinians will ever make peace which have dragged the U.S. into a mess that we will never get out of. I am not sure that there is a strong enough partner for peace among the Palestinians right now but I think Israel will be getting more and more conservative in the future. I think liberal Jews are now less likely to immigrate to Israel from the U.S. and Europe. The people who want to move to Israel and live in the settlements are going to be hard liners. Israel has always been the democratic state in the Middle East that is a friend of the U.S. But I am afraid the demographics will be changing and with people like Netanyahu being elected, I don't see peace coming.
Monday, May 30, 2011
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I don't think there's any doubt that the Tea Party is taking votes away from GOP candidates. I think that future GOP candidates who are in a strong Tea Party region will have to decide to run on an extremist platform to gain the Tea Party nomination or votes, or run on a neutral platform.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Dems go, the Tea Party can be seen as a blessing in disguise for their ability to pick up some seats. I wonder if the Tea Party will still exist in 10 years or at least be as strong. Politics has never been kind to third parties and it always seems that the two major parties have been able to survive throughout the years.
As far as Israel goes, I don't know if Netanyanhu had any choice but to lecture Obama and claim that the 67 line was indefensible. He's in a no win situation and he's trying to keep his job. It seems that whoever is in charge in Israel has to show the hard line and not budge on the Palestinians. And of course, this doesn't sit well with the other countries in the region. Giving up any territory by Israel is a show of weakness. And you are right that there really is no threat by invasion but there is the constant threat of terrorist attacks.
But do you agree that if Israel became more friendly in the region, that maybe they wouldn't be prone to as many terrorist attacks? In a perfect world, this would be the case, but as we've seen in the past, this may not necessarily be the case.
The only person of power in Israel who was willing to give peace a chance is still in a vegetative state and no one has stepped up and taken on that cause since.
-LBOAYM
You are right about modern American politics have not been good for third parties. Remember how Ross Perot got a lot of votes with his outsider approach? All it did was messed up the Republicans and handed the election to the Democrats. After that his party disappeared. It did not last any where near 10 years.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what the politics in Israel is, I think Netanyahu is arrogant. Remember when Israel extended settlements when Biden was visiting? The standing ovations Netanyahu got in Congress will embolden him in the future in dealing with Obama. This also shows the power of the Israel lobby. It is easy for Congressmen to praise Israel and take Jewish money for their reelection. But a president has to consider what is best for peace. Carter and Clinton both tried to get Israel to make concessions to get peace. It was successful with Egypt and Sadat but not with PLO and Arafat. That is why I don't necessary think it is going to be successful with the Palestinians right now but I think Obama is right to try to get Netanyahu to resume negotiations. Rabin gave back all of Sinai and nobody thought he was weak and there have been lasting peace on that front. I think there is no military solution for Israel and only a 2 state solution is realistic. And a Palestinian state that is cut into peacemeals will not work.